I was only joking about Bakhmut ceasefire, says Wagner chief

Russia installs ‘Devil’s Teeth’ anti-tank defence barricade to thwart Ukrainian forces

A crater left by a Russian missile strike in Mykolaiv, Ukraine on Thursday (Reuters)

The head of Russia's Wagner mercenary group said he had been joking when he offered to suspend artillery fire on Ukrainian forces in besieged Bakhmut.

Wagner has been spearheading Russia's assault on the Ukrainian city since last summer in the longest and bloodiest battle of the war, but Ukrainian forces have so far thwarted its attempts to take full control.

Yevgeny Prigozhin said in an audio message: “A decision has been taken to suspend artillery fire so that American journalists can safely film Bakhmut and go home.”